How do the game mode types differ?

[Galactic Starman]

Do the different game mode types have any advantages over one another? So I started in Normal Mode am I missing out on something by not playing Permadeath mode or Survival?

Is one mode going to be more developed in the future? Like maybe better rewards or advantages or ships or possible future multi-player interaction?

I've been enjoying Normal mode since the release of the game and it would be a pity to have to switch modes just to reach the same position and all the time spent in the game to get there.

I hope maybe there might be a way to 'switch' back and forth between modes with all I have achieved and continue perhaps from that point on in my chosen mode, maybe in a possible update. Not sure how this would work in practice.

[Rhoklaw]

Creative Mode = God Mode ( Infinite Health / Resources ) For exploring to your hearts content without downtime as well as building bases over and over to find a style and look you enjoy.

Normal Mode = Easy Mode ( Casual Gameplay ) For a relaxed yet "official" version of gameplay. You can feel good about what you accomplish as it's legit, even if slightly easy.

Survival Mode = Veteran Mode ( Hostile Environments / Harder Resource Management ) A new set of challenges for veteran players to overcome. More planets with hostile environments that deplete your shields quicker. You also lose more health while running around and take more damage from ships, creatures and sentinels.

Permadeath = YOLO baby! It's difficult + you only get 1 life. You die, game over man, game over.

[Knottypine]

There are specific achievements for reaching the center in survival and permadeath. Other than that, they only serve to change the difficulty.

[japp_02]

Very well explained above by Rhoklaw, plus i think you can do the game Story in all modes now, also in Creative.

[gunnersfan]

Originally posted by Rhoklaw:

Creative Mode = God Mode ( Infinite Health / Resources ) For exploring to your hearts content without downtime as well as building bases over and over to find a style and look you enjoy.

Normal Mode = Easy Mode ( Casual Gameplay ) For a relaxed yet "official" version of gameplay. You can feel good about what you accomplish as it's legit, even if slightly easy.

Survival Mode = Veteran Mode ( Hostile Environments / Harder Resource Management ) A new set of challenges for veteran players to overcome. More planets with hostile environments that deplete your shields quicker. You also lose more health while running around and take more damage from ships, creatures and sentinels.

Permadeath = YOLO baby! It's difficult + you only get 1 life. You die, game over man, game over.

I know this is cheating but if you die in PD and quickly shut off ur comp ur save remains. This saved me 2 times when i insta died b/c my ship hit/grinded on suddlely appearing blob of terrain.

[Dirak2012]

Yo are not missing anything by playing normal mode, only the extra challenge if you care about that (I certainly not)

[Knottypine]

Originally posted by gunnersfan:

I know this is cheating but if you die in PD and quickly shut off ur comp ur save remains. This saved me 2 times when i insta died b/c my ship hit/grinded on suddlely appearing blob of terrain.

Hmmm.... on that note, it's not really a good idea to shut your computer down like that. If you want to cheat permadeath you could just keep a backup.

[ÐëêžÑüTž™]

The entire fix to all the game modes is to uninstall this piece of ♥♥♥♥ until it's out of alpha.

[EvilPolygons]

My 2 cents...

Creative:

Normal:

Survival:

Permadeath:

[Haunt Fox]

Punishing players for not choosing the most masochistic mode is SO passe ...

Or at least, it should be.

I don't think they'll do that here, though.

[Galactic Starman]

Originally posted by SquishNoob:

Originally posted by Knottypine:

Hmmm.... on that note, it's not really a good idea to shut your computer down like that. If you want to cheat permadeath you could just keep a backup.

also... just alt+f4... instantly kills whatever app has focus.

Or maybe use a hammer. I heard that stops a computer and would ensure your computer stops... :) Thanks everyone for your thoughts above.

[japp_02]

Can anyone confirm if in Creative you can actually play the story? With my regular 1.35 this doesn't start, I want to experiment with some bugs.

[noFace]

I played a few hours of normal mode at launch but since Foundation have only played Survival. To me this is how the game is meant to be played, very challenging, different mind-set and you come across the most wild planets.

I wouldnt touch creative mode with a barge pole, it's like the old cheat codes in games and I imagine once you have played with all freeness you would find it very difficult actually grinding for anything.

[ReaperV]

I think the first post explained differences quite well.

To add to that, I will say that Survival mode is definitely challenging, especially in the early beginning. It feels slightly like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, in that resources can be hard to get, however as with most games of this nature, the game becomes much easier as you get going and unlock upgrades. You will eventually go from not being able to keep your reserves full, to hauling lots of resources around with you. While you may not be able to afford anything early-on and will be forced to mine/gather resources just to make it off planet, after a few hours of progression, you will find you can do missions or even simply explore (with the right scanner upgrades installed) to make hundreds (if not thousands) of times more money from that than just from harvesting everything in sight.

After over 40 hours in-game on Survival, I have just gotten around to starting my first base, have a decent 27-slot Explorer ship (which I found crashed on a planet by accident), and I have some of the basic +1 and +2 scanner upgrades for getting more money for scanning critters and plants. I went from earning 200 credits for scanning creatures to making $40K-150K per creature and $5K per plant. Now I just buy all of the Zinc and Plutonium at the market terminals instead of mining it.

Based on what I have seen of the Normal mode, you will never be struggling to get anything, and you will stay alive effortlessly. In Survival mode, you actually have to find or even make caves to hide in, and will need to watch your resources to keep your suit systems charged. If you die in Survival you can either take the penalty of losing all of the stuff that was in your inventory, or you can just reload the last saved game before you died. It's up to you how difficult you want to make the 'death' aspect in this mode... without cheating.

[Galactic Starman]

Originally posted by ReaperV:

To add to that, I will say that Survival mode is definitely challenging,... In Survival mode, you actually have to find or even make caves to hide in, and will need to watch your resources to keep your suit systems charged. If you die in Survival you can either take the penalty of losing all of the stuff that was in your inventory, or you can just reload the last saved game before you died. It's up to you how difficult you want to make the 'death' aspect in this mode... without cheating.

That's a great description and comparison. I like Survival mode too. I just have only so much time to play one mode or another and like very much you have to actually think creatively in Survival mode to stay alive.

Normal mode does though have quite difficult moments if you forget or get lazy or land on a particularly extreme planet so HG have created a good balance between modes. Permadeath is fun even if it is a verydifficult challenge.

I wonder if eventually there may be bonus awards for the more challenging modes compared to the easier modes for example. Maybe the reward of a unique ship if you play one mode or another. This would make a big difference if ever there are game 'league tables' or something resembling competitive play. Maybe a handicapped system to balance players should multi-play become practical one day.

It would be fun to meet a player from a different mode you could recognise by ship design or maybe a badge painted on their ship. Then at least what planets I discover in one mode might be visited by me on another mode.

Survival though I agree is the most realistic way to play the game and very fun it is too if you have patience and imagination. In fact all modes are fun. Creative is fun too for planning future base layouts.

[Wyo]

Originally posted by japp_02:

Can anyone confirm if in Creative you can actually play the story? With my regular 1.35 this doesn't start, I want to experiment with some bugs.

Yes you,can!